Knife's Edge
by gov the scoffer
Summary: A guys first kiss is supposed to be a private affair, but like everything else in a mutants life, what is supposed to be normal is usually not, and what decisions are made are usually the difference between life and death. Leo had seen her before, fought her before, bested her before, hell, even cut her with his katana before, but until today, he had never touched her.
1. Chapter 1

The first time it happened, everyone noticed. A guys first kiss is supposed to be a private affair, but like everything else in a mutants life, what is supposed to be normal is usually not, and what decisions are made are usually the difference between life and death. Leo had seen her before, fought her before, bested her before, hell, even cut her with his katana before, but until today, he had never touched her.

At first, it was like any other battle, the Foot were pressing them hard, an all out war was going on all over the rooftop, his brothers were engaged in various other fights across the cement building while he went for whichever fighter was the most skilled and posed the most threat. Today, like always, that person was Karai.

Leo had always been the one to win the fights in the past, albeit it was not easy, Karai was the only single person aside from Shredder who was a challenge for him. Her style was different from his own, and when they fought they moved so fast and so perfectly and with such precision that his brothers often said it looked like they were dancing.

Tonight was different.

Tonight she got lucky.

Leo didn't see the puddle of blood on the rooftop in time and lost his footing, Karai used this to her advantage without a seconds thought, using his forward momentum to slam him up against the wall and his momentary disorientation to disarm him. Leo realized a split second too late what had happened when he felt Karai's blade at his neck.

That was it. He was dead.

He heard Raph's scream of denial and saw him rushing towards them, apparently during their fight the other Foot soldiers had been killed. But even Rapt knew that they were too far away to help him. He looked back at his attacker and swallowed his disappointment and fear, determined to meet death bravely. Karai was breathing heavily, the gold in her eyes flashed dangerously as she leaned closer, no doubt to gloat about her victory, Leo braced himself for the pain of death that he knew was only seconds away. What he didn't prepare himself for was the feeling of Karai's lips pressed against his.

He heard his brother's gasps and the stunned silence that followed. He saw Karai's face pressed against his, her eyes were closed, she had a scar barely disable beneath her hairline, and a blush was coloring her usually pale skin.

She was actually quite attractive.

Mean as hell judging from past experience, but attractive nonetheless.

Why harder he noticed it before?

All of this went through his mind in a split second. Karai broke away from the kiss before he could really come to grips with what was happening or even start to enjoy it.

Karai flashed him a grin and then she was gone.

Leo was left staring at the spot where she had been standing. Unsure what to think, feel, or do.

Raph was the first to break the stunned silence.

"WHAT THE SHELL WAS THAT?"


	2. Chapter 2

Mikey and Donny stared at Leo for 3.4 seconds before exploding with laughter. Relief at not having their brother killed and shock at the sudden turn of events reduced them to helpless piles of mirth. Slapping each other on the shoulder and guffawing at their elder brother who tried his best to ignore them. Raph was more angry and confused than anything else, he stomped over to Leo and checked him over for injuries.

Leo waved him off.

"Raph I'm fine. Just drop it."

Raph looked back at the place Karai had jumped and shook his head.

"Damn Leo, what the f$ % ^ was all that about?"

"Language Raph."

"Why did she kiss ya huh? You guys been doing somthin I should know about?"

Leo turned a vibrant shade of green.

"Of course not! Come on man, when would I have the time to have sexual encounters with the Shredder's daughter huh?"

Mikey and Donny came to stand next to them, both of them wearing matching grins.

"Wait till I tell Splinter! Karai and Leo, great job bro, she is actually pretty hot! Reaction time was a bit slow, but other than that-"

Raph cut him off by slapping him upside the head.

"Cut it out numbskull. This is serious."

" OOOOH its serious huh? Wow Leo, you didn't say it was getting serious, hey, can I be your best man at your wedding? huh? Can I?"

Donny laughed and put his arm around a mortified Leonardo's shoulders.

"Hamato Karai, it does have a nice ring to it!"

Leo scowled and shrugged Donny's arm off before stalking over to the edge of the rooftop.

"Let's just get back to the lair guys, I think that about does it for our run."

His younger brothers followed him keeping up a steady tune of:

"Karai and Leo, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!"

Raph didn't think any of it was funny, he kept pace with Leo and remained silent as they made their way home...


	3. Chapter 3

Leo ignored his brother's teasing and speculation on what his and Karai's children should be named and chose to march silently ahead of them on their way back to the lair. Mikey came up with several interesting ideas for dates, including but not limited to scuba diving in the sewer, eating exotic pizza on the rooftops by candlelight, and hunting mutated animals together, while Donny went through his extensive knowledge of dating tips and understanding of the female sex that he had gleaned from his online virtual reality research. Raph remained stubbornly in a foul brooding mood until they all gave up trying to even speak with him. By the time they had reached home Leo was embarrassed and snarky, Mikey was sporting a terrific shiner from pestering Raph one too many times, and Don had vowed to research the fine nuance of wooing a rather hot ninja girl that just happened to be a mortal enemies daughter, saying that a bloke can find anything on the interweb if he looks hard enough. Splinter didn't know what to think when he saw the lot of them, and just stood there, his eyebrow raised disapprovingly as he waited for someone to tell him what had transpired that night. Leo's brothers were all too willing to oblige.

"Leo has a girlfriend!"

Mikey grinned and waved his arms around for emphasis.

"They were kissing! Well- She kissed him anyway, he was too slow on the uptake to do anything but still, Leo has a girlfriend!"

Splinter knew that his youngest child tended to exaggerate, so he turned to Leonardo, who refused to look at him and stood with his arms crossed in a rather remarkable impersonation of Raphael. Seeing that he wasn't going to get anywhere in that direction Splinter turned to Donnatello.

"Is this true?"

The purple banded turtle chuckled and shrugged,

"The kissing part is true, whether Leo gets a girl or not is up to him..."

Raph threw his hands in the air with an inarticulate growl. Striding over to stand in front of Don, who, despite being taller than the red-banded turtle still cringed.

"There ain't no way in hell Leo is dating that- that-"

"Is seriously hot babe the words you are looking for?" Mikey supplied helpfully.

Raph's next words stunned master Splinter and had Leo slapping his face in helpless frustration.

"She is a foot ninja shell for brains!"


	4. Chapter 4

"And not just any Foot Ninja- But Shredders daughter!"

Raphs yell effectively silenced any other sort of conversation currently transpiring in the room. Splinter's mouth dropped open and he whirled around to face Leonardo who was trying to fight off a violent migraine.

"Is this true? You and Karai have feelings for one another?"

Leo sighed and turned to glare at his brothers who had the good sense to cringe at the promise of pain in the near future.

With a steady and calm voice the eldest turtle addressed their Sensei.

"Nothing happened, yes it is true that Karai kissed me, why she did so I haven't the faintest idea, but as far as the two of us go, there is no relationship, there is no private understanding, there are no romantic meetings of any kind happening behind your back father. The only time I meet Karai is when we are fighting, when the two of us are trying to kill each other. Why she decided to kiss me is beyond my comprehension."

Suddenly Leo's shell cell went off, alerting him to a new text message, annoyed Leo tore it off his belt and looked at it before tossing the device to Raph.

"And why she has just invited me to meet her at midnight alone is equally baffling."

Splinter let out a rather violent swear word that left all of his sons open-mouthed in shock.

For there, on the shell cell were the words "come alone, midnight, I will be waiting..." and a rather provocative selfie of Karai.


	5. Chapter 5

Donny tapped his chin, deep in thought before turning to Leo.

"Well, I may just be a scientist but I am not dead, I would say judging from all evidence provided that the reason she wants to meet with you alone at midnight is pretty straightforward!"

Mikey let out a whoop of laughter and a wolf whistle.

"She wants your bod bro! Look at that pic! She has "I want you" eyes!"

Mikey snatched the shell cell out of Donny's hand and waved it around in front of Leo's face gleefully.

Leo groaned and turned to Raph mouthing "help!"

Raph answered by taking the shell cell and throwing it hard against the farthest wall to the dismay of his two younger brothers.

Mikey let out a dramatic wail and fell to his knees beside the remains of the shell cell.

"Oh Raph how could you! Leo's only chance for happiness! Ruined!"

Leo snorted and turned to go back to his room. Donny meanwhile was busy pulling up Leo's texting account on his own mini-computer.

Raph marched after Leonardo. Splinter pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to come to grips with the fact that his whole life was about to be turned upside down on its head because of his son's love life.

"You ain't goin!"

Leo opened his eye from his place of meditation on the floor.

"That is not up to you."

"WHAT!?"

"You heard me. If I go or stay is my decision. Not yours."

"I can't believe this... What about our family Leo? You know damn well this is some sort of a trap! You can't seriously-"

Leo was standing an inch away from his face before Raph could blink, to his credit he didn't even flinch. When his blue banded brother spoke again his voice was low and deadly.

"Don't imply that I don't care about this family. Everything I do is for our family. I would rather die than put any of you in danger. What happens tonight could be the turning point in this war with the Shredder, half of the Foot clan is loyal to Karai, if she turned away from him it would be a massive win. We have got to exploit any advantage we have against Saki, and this might just be our greatest one so far. My next move requires careful planning and thought. If I feel that this is a trap, I won't hesitate to act. Besides, I know you have my back if things go south."

Raph sighed.

"Just tell me one thing Leo and be honest because I can always tell when you are lying. You are doing this for strategic reasons right? You don't feel anything for her even remotely romantic right?"

Leo opened his mouth to answer, but then he paused, deep in thought. Raph threw his hands in the air helplessly.

When he looked back at his brother, he had a contemplative look on his face that he didn't like at all...


End file.
